Dakota Datebook, North Dakota Public Radio, August
1, 2005.

People who grew up in the German Russian regions of the state likely
knew at
least one person who either moved to Lodi, California, or who had
relatives
there. This was the result of a quest by Wilhelm Adam Hieb, who
became known as
Columbus for encouraging others to join him there.

Hieb (heeb) was born in Neudorf, Russia in 1852 and came here with
his young
wife, Catharina, on the S.S. Hermann in 1874. They settled in Hutchinson
County, Dakota Territory, near what is now Menno, South Dakota.
Catharina died
during their tenth year together.

After two decades on the prairie, Wilhelm missed the more temperate
climate of
south Russian, so he decided to find a place more similar to where
he grew up.
In 1895, he and two friends, Gottlieb Hieb (no relation) and Jacob
Mettler,
headed for California and toured the state by train.

Wilhelm liked Los Angeles and its orange groves, but he wanted
to grow grapes.
They headed north and finally found the perfect place: Lodi. Hieb
went back to
Dakota, sold his land, and became the first German Russian to move
to Lodi.

With him were his second wife, Charlotta, and their eight children.
In 1975,
Hiebs youngest child, Pauline Walters, told the story to the Lodi
News-Sentinel. Her father bought 30 acres a mile south of Lodi and
planted some
of it into Zinfandel and Mission grapes. The rest he put into pasture
to raise
cows to keep them afloat until the grapes were mature enough to
produce.

It wasnt until a few years later that others began to join them.
Polly said
when other Dakotans began arriving, theyd always stay with the Hiebs.
The town
did have a hotel and a restaurant, she says, but this wasnt for
the thrifty
Dakotans. People came and went from our house, and this went on
for years.
Sometimes families would stay with us for two or three weeks until
they could
find a place.

It was about this time that Wilhelm became known as Columbus, as
he enticed
more and more of his former neighbors to migrate to Lodi. Even his
mail came
addressed to Columbus Hieb. He would meet Dakotans at the train
depot and drive
the men around until they found what they needed. Land was inexpensive
about
$25-35 an acre and the sandy soil was ideal.

Some people farmed, others worked in wineries or canneries. Nearly
everyone
prospered, and the migration increased. Back in Dakota, it became
a sort of
joke among German Russians to ensure their childrens survival they
taught them
three words in English: Papa, Mama and Lodi.

Polly remembered a day in the early 1900s when an entire train
car of Dakotans
arrived. This time there were so many, their home wasnt large enough
to
accommodate everybody. Her brother was sent on horseback to tell
earlier
migrants to come and get some of them. Meanwhile, she helped her
mother prepare
food for everybody. It didnt matter how many came, she said, we
always had
food. We learned how to manage on the spur of the moment.

Columbus Hieb's vineyard was one of the first commercial wineries
in the Lodi
region. After his grapes started producing, he shipped his wine
in 50-gallon
barrels to Hosmer, SD, where it was marketed. The initiator of the
Lodi
connection died on this date in 1929. He was 77.

Vossler, Ron (documentary script). Heaven Is Our Homeland: the
Glueckstalers in
New Russia and North America. Glckstal Colonies Research Association,
2004

Dakota Datebook is a project of North Dakota Public Radio, in partnership
with
the State Historical Society of North Dakota, with funding from
the North
Dakota Humanities Council. Hosted by Merrill Piepkorn, written by
Merry Helm,
and produced by Bill Thomas.

North Dakota Public Radio is a service of Prairie Public Broadcasting
in
association with North Dakota State University and the University
of North
Dakota.

Permission
to use any images from the GRHC website may be requested
by contacting Michael
M. Miller